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It was already nearing evening. During this time period, Maxwell who had routine tasks should still be remaining in the academy.

I was a little uncertain how Maxwell would move when hearing Michelle’s report, but he wasn’t as adaptable as Cortina.

Even if they were both Six Heroes, Cortina was a commoner who didn’t hold any authority, while Maxwell was formerly among the leaders of this kingdom. The gap between their standings was too big.

As I arrived near the academy, as expected, I saw Cortina rush out along with a few teachers. The teachers weren’t guards, but they could still become a fighting force. She must have taken them along with that thought in mind.

As long as she had people around, she could display her ability well enough.

Maxwell on the other hand was sitting in the office and issued instructions while going through the documents.

He probably intended to gain time by sending Cortina ahead, while he would later take over the situation with the main force.

“At any rate, there might be some noble involved in this. While Cortina is gaining us time, contact Marquis Yowi and the castle. Also, send people to the Horton company. Little Michelle has connections to that place too.”
“Yes, understood!”
“Assign guards to Nicole when you find her as well.”
“Understood!”

Receiving Maxwell’s instructions, several staff members rushed out of the office. Using that opportunity, I slipped through the window and sneaked up on him.

“Sup, you look busy.”
“Nuoh!? I-Is that you, Reid… Don’t scare me like that.”
“That’s quite a welcome. I was hiding because I thought it would lead to problems.”
“So, what is with your getup?”

It was natural that Maxwell ended up pointing that out. I was currently wearing the regular soldier uniform of this kingdom on my former body. It was a little short on my feet, but it was still within the margin of error.

It couldn’t be helped since I didn’t have any other male clothes on hand, but it would have looked weird from Maxwell’s eyes who knew me very well.

Particularly, the combination of an illegal guy like me and the soldier clothes was far too improbable.

“Considering the earlier conversation, you should already be aware of what happened, right? I mean about Michelle.”
“Mh—Could it be that you already…?”
“Yeah. the perpetrators were hiding in one hunter’s hut on the way to the south outside the city. After making them faint, I tied them up and left them there. Naked.”
“That is quite cruel. Still, it is quite rare for you to let your enemies live.”
“I just thought that would be more convenient even for you. Also… I wanted to get permission.”
“Permission?”

Maxwell looked at me with deep interest as I pulled a chair and sat at the desk before him. And then, I explained the particulars of the incident.

“He planned to use her parents as a shield to get Michelle under him? He should be aware that he would not be able to earn her loyalty like that.”
“Yeah, he could get shot from behind any time. But since he still acted on it…”
“It would mean that he has means to prevent any betrayal?”
“Most likely, he planned to use one of those ‘collars’ that they put on the slaves or something.”
“The collar of subordination, huh? It is a banned item… If that is discovered in Lichtenberg’s mansion, he would have no excuses to make.”
“Right. But this time, I don’t have time to wait until that happens.”
“Mh…?”

Hearing my words, Maxwell seemed to have realized what I intended to do.

Purge Lichtenberg. In other words, Reid, the assassin, would once again return to duty.

“Well, he keeps ignoring my will to this extent, and even harmed the citizens, so I do understand where you are coming from…”
“And that citizen was my friend. No way I can overlook him, right?”
“Mgh… I would have preferred to deal with him using the normal means.”
“That’s how it would be given your position. That’s why I came to get your permission like this.”

I could understand that Maxwell, given his public standing, wanted to act according to laws as best as he could. When it came to a bigshot like Lichtenberg, in particular, he would need to issue a punishment that would satisfy the masses.

On the other hand, given that he was a leading aristocrat, there was a high possibility that his life would be spared. He would most likely be stripped of his power, but he could just be made to retire in some remote place and end it at that.

He tried to put his hand on Michelle, so I couldn’t allow him to get away with such a carefree retirement.

“Sigh… At this stage, you will not listen to anything I will say, would you?”
“Well, yeah.”
“When do you plan to do it?”
“Possibly tonight.”
“That is fast. No, I suppose these matters require promptness. Understood. I will make sure Cortina and I have an alibi when that happens. Ah, Mateus as well.”
“Please do.”

I already expected Maxwell to do something like that to avoid needless suspicion. Mateus was also known as his confidant, so it would be bad if he was suspected too.

Thus, it made things easier for me as well if he was going to take him along for the alibi. This would save Cortina from getting weird looks.

Now that I got Maxwell’s permission, I decided to leave his room to start planning for tonight. But Maxwell stopped me.

“Wait wait. There is still something that you should know.”
“Huh, did something happen?”
“About the virus that you brought back.”

He was talking about the mucus bag that I… Or rather, Cloud discovered previously. Apparently, new information had reached him about it.

“About the Disease Slime fragment from before.”
“Oh yeah, you mean from that epidemic?”
“Yes. It is a very unusual monster. I was trying to see if I could follow the culprit’s tracks using that fact. However, there have been no traces that such a monster had been discovered nearby Raum in these few years. I have asked every Adventurer’s Guild, but they all gave similar replies.”
“I don’t get it.”
“I mean that we do not know where they obtained that virus from. It is a rare species so its detection rate is extremely low. There was a precedent of it discovered some 15 or 20 years ago in the northern parts, but it has not been subjugated.”
“Is there a possibility that they kept the one from that time?”
“There naturally is such possibility… However, it would be strange to think that they were saving for such limited use.”
“Hmm… Oh well. I’m not very familiar with that stuff. Dealing with the senile noble that’s before my eyes come first.”
“Hahh, you should not be needing my warning, but make sure everything happens ‘simply’, okay?”

What Maxwell was worried about was whether I planned to massacre everyone in that mansion. Considering that I would be able to if only I wanted to, his uneasiness was natural.

That said, I was not a cold-blooded murderer. Even if it was my own claim, I executed people according to my morality, so it was my policy to not involve unrelated people.

I returned a nod to his warning and left the room without a word. I needed to prepare in advance to keep the casualties to a minimum.